Sunday, July 31, 2016

My seventh Escarpment Trail Run is in the books! It was a wet (- rained all day) and muddy time out there, from start to finish. But, in a big surprise (to ME!) I finished in 5:24:19 - my fastest time in 5 years (since the 5:23:20 at the 2011 edition)! That was a solid 22 minutes faster than last year's finish (5:46:58) - when we had dry conditions on the course!

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Another hot and humid July weekend - must be the NYRR Team Championships! The twist this year was the tougher (north) 5 mile loop - that included the Harlem Hills. This time around I wasn't racing, but using the 5 miles as a training run (sometimes I find myself saying that, even when I started out racing - haha). But with the Escarpment Trail Run tomorrow, didn't want to pass up a another point and did plan an easy run today.

The best part of the morning was the post-race socializing with my Taconic team-mates and getting to see my friends running for other clubs. Regardless of the weather, this is one of the most fun events on the NYRR calendar!

Saturday, July 23, 2016

This is a great photo of our start/finish line crew posted by the NYRR! It's at the start of the Long Training Run, just before we were assigned to the corrals. After the start, we moved over to the finish line up at the 102nd Street transverse.

Volunteering this morning satisfied my +1 for the 2017 NYC Marathon 9+1 requirements. On the race side, I only have 3 done, and 3 more on deck over the next month. With just 6 races going into the Fall, it's seems like the slowest pace to reach 9 done that I can remember. But I should, as in prior years, work it out that the NYC Marathon comes in as race number 9 :D

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Last night was the Masters Challenge 5K at Rockefeller State Park. I was the first running I've done since stopping at mile 58.5 at the Vermont 100 Endurance Run on Saturday night.

It was a fantastic night, weather-wise, to run. But the traffic Gods didn't see fit to make getting there for the actual start a possibility. I found myself running down to the lake from the parking lot - and chasing the "sag wagon" - actually the girl running the course picking up the trail markers once all the runners had passed by! I had to catch and pass her just to benefit from the course markings!

After the race (which, I officially finished in about 30 minutes - factoring in the 5+ minute late start), the participating club teams (Taconic, Rockland, Westchester and Van Cortlandt) celebrated with what could aptly be called a post-race feast! It was way too much food and drink for a 5k - but no one complained - haha :D

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

The 2016 Edition of the Vermont 100 Miler Endurance Run ended for me well short of 100 Miles. Despite the DNF at mile 58.5 (the newly designated Margaritaville), I had a great time all around (an a pair of Margaritas waiting for the sag wagon!). I knew going in that I was undertrained for the course/terrain (despite having run the Great NY 100 Mile Running Exposition last month). I didn't have the necessary hill work and mileage base I would have liked.

I realized coming down from Sound of Music (roughly mile 28) that it would be a tough day when my quads starting pounding me. I expected sore quads - just not that early in the day (maybe at the half way point). As it turned out, the one mile downhill into Camp Ten Bear (mile 47) was a relatively brutal stretch for me. It was, perhaps, the low point of the day! How ironic was it that a course noted for its unrelenting climbs would trip me up on the downhills!

Toss in my old nemesis - chafing - and it quickly became apparent that it wasn't going to be my day. I managed another 10+ miles, but finishing the 100 wasn't in the cards.

Still, it was an excellent time - and I have no regrets! Now, finish #4 will have to wait until next year :D

Thursday, July 14, 2016

I've run plenty of one mile races over the years (and drunk plenty of beer before and after some of those races)... But last night was the first time I combined the two (drinking a 12 ounce beer at the start of each quarter mile split) - at the Taconic RR's second annual Beer Mile!

It was a lot of fun -- and somehow I did manage to drink my 4 bottles of beer and finish in a respectable 8:35 :D

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Last night I drove up to New Canaan for the Waveny Summer XC Series 2 Person Relay. It was something of unplanned addition to the race schedule because tonight is the Taconic Beer Mile! And, more ominously, this weekend is the Vermont 100 Miler.

But it was great to socialize and has a couple of post-race (3 x 1 mile loops of the field) ice pops! I didn't take any photos, except for the one above - but Kate took this excellent selfie :D

Monday, July 4, 2016

What a great day to run a hilly 8 mile loop around Lake Mahopac - the Putnam County Classic! Over 330 runners completed the 44th edition of the race to kick off their 4th of July celebrations! This year the race benefitted from the very brand new Taconic Road Runner mile markers :D

Saturday, July 2, 2016

We had great weather this morning for the Norwalk Summer Series 5 Miler - including a nice breeze to cool things off. I had hoped to just finish under 40 minutes (no speed work to speak of lately) - and was surprised to finish in 37:36, a 7:32 pace! That's just a couple of seconds off my pace at the NYRR Retro 4 Miler a month ago. It was, even more surprisingly, enough for second place in my age group :D

Next up is the Taconic Road Runners Putnam County Classic (8 Miles) on the 4th of July!

Friday, July 1, 2016

What a difference a year makes! Last July kicked off with a patch over my eye (the second of my two cataract surgeries) - and a month that included little running and/or racing (except rallying to get in my 6th Escarpment Trail Run done at the end of that month).

This year again has Escarpment to cap off the month (7/31), but the big question mark is whether I get off the wait list for the Vermont 100 (which I foolishly added my name to following The Great New York 100 Mile Running Exposition last month). I'm reminded of that... "be careful what you wish for - it may come true" little ditty!

Otherwise, the month kicks off tomorrow with the Norwalk 5 Miler. The Putnam County Classic follows 2 days later on the 4th of July (volunteering there, not running it). I haven't penciled anything in for the weekend of the 9th because if I get in to Vermont, will use it to get in my last long runs before the race.

But I hope to get up to FDR park on the 13th (Wednesday night) for the Beer Mile! And again, post-Vermont, Wednesday night the 20th for the Masters Challenge. That weekend will also bring up my NYRR Volunteer requirement at the Long Training Run on Saturday. That same evening, will hopefully line up for the Broadway Ultra Society PJ Run (6 Hours). A race I've yet to participate in since it always seemed to be scheduled the night before Escarpment!

The final weekend of the month, aside from Escarpment on Sunday, is the NYRR Men's Team 5 Miler on Saturday (#4 of my 9+1 for 2016). Phew! That's a lot for July...